All the accused hail from Raipur (Hingna). They are Kailash Bhange, PramodBagde, Raju Nagpure, GajananNagpure, and DevnathBhange. All were convicted under Section 9, punishable under Section 51, of the WPA. Apart from jail all will have to pay a fine of Rs5,000 each.

"It was a watertight case wherein we had caught the accused red-handed while poaching birds," said SS Notey, retired range forest officer (RFO) with Pench Tiger Reserve's anti-poaching squad. Acting on a tip off, Notey, district honorary wildlife warden Kundan Hate, and staff had laid a trap at Dahegaonlake, now in Mihan. Many migratory birds still flock to this lake, a hotspot for birders.

Notey said poachers had a unique modus operandi to kill the birds. They used to first catch butterflies and apply thandai (used in paan) on them and put the dead butterflies in the lake. "The birds died instantly upon consuming these butterflies. The poachers, with the help of inflatable rubber tubes, would later collect the bird carcasses and sold them in the market or dhabas," he said.

"The tip off was given by some local villagers. As we reached the lake the accused were in the was collecting birds. After seeing the forest team, they started to flee but were caught," said Hate.

The case could stand due to continuous follow up by Hingna RFO CS Patil. Patil said though case was registered in 2004, it came on the board in 2008 and hence the delay. "The court even rejected the bail bonds of the accused saying destroying wildlife and environment was a serious crime," said Patil. He said Hingna range has been expediting court cases. Thirty more cases pertaining to wildlife and illicit felling are going on in the sessions and local courts.